The Crisis of the Modern World
Reviewing the classic book of René Guénon
I was surprised by this book, and it was a pleasure to read. It was published in French 1927 by René Guénon, in which he argues for the decay of the modern world. It is, in some sense, the long prophetic vision of the apocalypse, but rather than the “literal” destruction of the material world, it is instead of the death of culture.
He encapsulates this trajectory in the cycle known as “Manvantara” from Hindu doctrine, which is divided into four periods. He claims we are in the fourth age, the “Kali-Yuga” (translated as dark age). It is a state of dissolution before the whole cycle renews. The whole book is a deep critique of modernity, the idea of “progress”, and a call for a return of a religious and symbolic experience of the world.
Early in the book, he presents the spiritual distinction between the West and East. While the author has a whole book about this topic, here he gives a concise introduction for some groundwork. The crisis of the modern world, as Guénon argues, is a Western phenomenon. The East, due to its more traditional culture and also lack of hyperfocus on science, managed to retain some of its traditional and symbolic frameworks. He argues that if the West is to survive at all, it has to learn from the East.
What Guénon argues for in terms of tradition is a lot deeper than modern conservatism. It is deeply tied to religious metaphysics. They are truths that have been hidden and inaccessible to the West for hundreds of years. We can’t simply revert back to tradition because we don’t know what it means. We have lost the meaning of its symbols.
He tracks the crisis to the 14th century. Philosophy became ever more entrenched in rationalism. It became profane, losing its metaphysical and religious roots. The Renaissance and Reformation were significant points in this progression, culminating with Descartes who is the foundation of modern rationalism. The more we lost our connection to what the divine means, the more we attached scientific knowledge as a spiritual band-aid.
But Guénon argues that this is the knowledge in the lowest order. It has never-ending multiplicity, never guided under a higher metaphysical principle that guides the culture. Nature is reduced to a mere machine upon which we study its dead components for its manipulation. Even with Aristotle, the father of science itself, physics was subordinate to metaphysics. But as science progressed, this structure was lost.
This created a materialistic culture, and its connection to rationalism is a direct link. And in turn, both created individualism, in which nothing can be higher than the individual. It is the culmination of science’s obsession with multiplicity, which ignores higher levels of abstraction, just as real and just as important but scientifically invisible.
There were some parts of the book which I wasn’t the biggest fan. I didn’t agree with everything; I certainly don’t embrace his emphasis on societal hierarchy, especially applied to religious institutions and even more so to political systems. In addition, his thought is unfortunately often vague. Although that is the very essence of the topic and in large part, why it has been rejected in modernity, where everything has to be explicit and articulate. If it’s not “in the light” of rational thought, it doesn’t exist. But overall, I found the book engaging and with useful insights.
I read this shortly after “The Master and His Emissary” by Iain McGilchrist, which lined up perfectly. I have reviewed it on Medium here:
Although in an older language, many of the same problems are covered. If you are under the impression that tradition is useless, or under the spell of how the enlightenment was the division between the good and scientific modernity compared to the bad and old superstitious dark ages, then this book will have no sense whatsoever.
But I certainly don’t think that’s the case. And Guénon explores some difficult topics of what was lost in the process. If you want to explore these topics, I would read McGilchrist’s work first, which presents it a much more digestible and modern format aided by neuroscience. Then you will be able to appreciate better Guénon’s insights into the modern world and its imminent collapse. At close to 100 years old, this book couldn’t be more relevant, and many of the problems he expressed are more obvious now than when they were written.
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Tiago V.F.
